40 by 40!

Friday, May 10, 2013

That I am officially going back to work full-time starting on Monday! I have been doing some contract work for USA TODAY since last fall and they recently offered me a full-time position as a curriculum manager. I have some reservations about going back to work full-time because it hasn't always worked out too well for me, but I have negotiated a schedule that I think is going to work really well for me. I will be working with a great team of folks and get to work on some cool projects with organizations like NASA, United Way and many others. So, YAY for me!!

I CONFESS...

That I am currently sitting in my house with the back door wide open and the air conditioning on. I can't lie, I do this quite frequently. The dog loves to be able to go in and out as she pleases and even though I purchased a doggy door about 6 months ago, I am YET to have it installed. UGH!

I CONFESS...

That I am incredibly anxious about submitting all my marketing materials for my cabaret show today. You have to submit everything via a live form and you only get one chance to do it. So no spelling errors, typos or anything else. The pressure is on!

I CONFESS...

That I am super excited about the new Star Trek movie coming out this month! I have been a Star Trek nerd since I was a child and have seen most of the movies in the theater with my father. I watched the TV shows too - well, up until Deep Space Nine at least. Everything after that was a bit too much for me. I am hoping that I can see this next movie with my father as well when I see him in a couple of week.s

I think that is all for now! Have a great weekend friends!

What are you confessing today? Head on over to High-Heeled Love and join the party!

Well, it's official folks. Many of you already know that, but now it's REALLY official because I am announcing it on the blog!

I will be performing my very own cabaret show this summer in the Capital Fringe Festival. For those of you who don't know about the Fringe Festival, they take place all across the world at different times. If you watch the TV show, SMASH, you have seen a little bit about the NY Fringe Festival - though it may have been a slightly unrealistic portrayal. In DC it is a huge festival with about 130 acts that takes place during the month of July at various venues all over the DC area. It is an opportunity for both new and seasoned performers to put forth their most original, raw and honest work. It is an absolutely crazy experience and I am doing it!!! This really is a dream come true.

Today is a big deadline for all of us Fringe artists - marketing forms are due! This is a hard deadline too - if everything is not in hand by 5pm today, then your show doesn't get publicized on the Fringe website or in the Fringe festival guide. Talk about pressure!!

I thought I would celebrate this deadline by sharing some of the information that I have to submit today with all of my blogging friends. So, sit back, relax and prepare to learn a little more about my show.

First of all, that's the image for my show. It will go on the website and all my promotional materials. It is amazing and I am so in love with it and so grateful to my friend who created it for me. If you need a great graphic designer - let me know! She is amazing!!!

The title of my show is Almost Together. And here is the description as it will appear in the Fringe Festival Guide:

One woman’s uncommon love affair with bipolar disorder.

A lifetime of struggle with mental illness in 60 minutes.
Witness the sheer elation, despair, utter hopelessness, humor and triumph that
all play a part in bipolar disorder. Celebrate the raw and joyous truth through
song and story.

The show opens July 12th at midnight and if you want to get all the updates then you can check out my website and follow me on facebook.

That is all the information for today - just enough to whet your appetite and keep you tuning in for more.

Friday, May 3, 2013

That I have not posted on a Friday Confessional since January! That is four months of silence, people. What has this girl been doing??

I CONFESS...

That I have NOT been busy with a full-time job since January. In fact, I quit my full-time job the first week of 2013 and have been doing some contract work since then. It has been glorious!

I CONFESS...

That since I last posted I have successfully achieved my goal of leaving 30 pounds in my 30's!!! WHAT!?!? I am super excited about this because along with the weight I lost, I went down 4 pants sizes, gained tremendous amounts of energy and confidence, AND I found my inner athlete!! I started out with a workout program called Turbo Fire. I did two rounds of that while also completing the Couch to 5K program. Now, I am tackling my hardest workout program ever - INSANITY! I am finishing the first month now, so stay tuned for my results because they are going to be sick!

I also completely changed my nutrition - I now strive to eat mostly clean, natural foods that provide me with loads of good nutrition. Not to say that I don't treat myself every once in awhile, because I do, but the bulk of my eating these days is clean. I also added an excellent nutritional supplement called Shakeology that has helped tremendously as well.

I CONFESS...

That since my last update, I have knocked four more tasks off my list of 40 by 40! So stay tuned for updates. As you can read in yesterday's post, I recently read the book The Happiness Project and have been inspired by it. It has made me want to blog daily - I'm not making promises, but I am COMMITTING to make my best effort!

I'll leave you with this final thought about commitment vs. interest. Trust me when I say that I am not COMMITTED to this blog!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

I had a major realization while reading my most recent personal development book tonight. I have been reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It is also titled "Why I spent a year trying to sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read Aristotle, and generally have more fun." If you haven't read it yet, definitely check it out as soon as possible - guaranteed to give you a fresh perspective on life and being happy.

In her quest for happiness, Gretchen set up a lot of structure before beginning her project. She had a list of Twelve Commandments that she followed and Secrets to Adulthood that she referenced frequently. And she created a resolutions chart for each month with specific resolutions she would practice everyday during that month.

It finally dawned on my that one of the reasons I have had difficulty sticking to my 40 by 40 project is that I never gave it a real sense of definition - no purpose, no end goal. Sure, I wanted to try 40 new things by the time I turned 40, but WHY? To what END?

So, I have decided to lay out my FIVE WISHES for this project.

WISH #1 - Try new things! This one is obvious. By the end of this project, I hope that I have tried a huge variety of new things that I would have never imagined that I would try before. I imagine that some of these things I will greatly enjoy and others...not so much. But even through the process of trying I believe that I will gain new confidence and learn more about myself.

WISH #2 - Build new relationships and strengthen old ones!If you are new to my blog, what you don't know is that anyone can suggest an activity to add to my list of 40 by 40, but they must then also be involved in that task somehow.

Two examples - one of the items I have tackled (but not yet blogged about) was learning to handle and shoot a gun. My dad was a hunter and a soldier and my memories of him carry a strong attachment to these two identities of his. For that reason, I wanted me dad to teach me to shoot a gun. Without giving too much away, and spoiling an upcoming blog post, I spent a lovely day with my father over the Christmas holiday learning how to load a gun, handle it properly, shoot it and care for it. Everyone else in my family experienced this with my father at a much younger age, but my fear of loud noises prevented it for a long time. But finally, I was able to connect in a real way to this side of my father that I had never entirely understood before.

Also, I have recently been walking with a neighbor of mine in the morning and we are really becoming fast friends. One of the things she enjoys, and is quite gifted at, is cake decorating. She is teaching a class locally for the first time and her beginning class did not enroll fully, so she suggested that I take it and add it to my list of 40 by 40! Fantastic! Not only do I get to try something new and WAY out of my comfort zone, but I also get to know her better and support one of her passions.

WISH #3 - Explore my passions!One of the BIG activities that I had on my 40 by 40 list from the very beginning was to put up my own cabaret show. As many of you know, I am doing just that this summer through the Capital Fringe Festival. As a result, I am spending time with music I have loved for my entire life, taking voice lessons again, working with an extremely talented director who I connect with on so many levels and just singing my heart out as often as I can. While this is a stressful undertaking at times, it is also one that brings me tremendous joy because I am devoting large chunks of time to something I simply LOVE to do.

WISH #4 - BE MARY!I can't lie, I stole this one straight out of The Happiness Project, but it is just so perfect. I have spent entirely too much time in my life trying to make myself be who I thought I SHOULD be, or trying to enjoy activities because someone else enjoyed them, or attempting to conquer new skills just because I wished they were something I really enjoyed. Well, the rules for this project are that I will not do anything that simply does not give me some form of excitement when I think about doing it.

If you've been following my blog, you know that the first task I tackled was baking a cake from scratch. This was not my idea and probably something I would not have selected on my own, but when my sister suggested it, I was excited. I like cake and I have always been fascinated by the chemistry and the science of baking, so I found the nugget of it that intrigued me and ended up enjoying the experience.

However, another friend suggested that I join her for a weekend of hiking and camping. I immediately knew that this was something that was VERY likely to make me miserable and not likely at all to make me happy. Some of you know well the miserable trip I took in high school hiking and camping through the wilderness for a week. So, this suggestion isn't making my list and I will not feel bad about it. I wish I enjoyed camping and being outdoors more, but the simple truth is that I do not. And through this project I hope to stay true to who I really am and what I really enjoy at my core.

WISH #5 - Finish what I started! I am very good at starting projects, extremely good at it, in fact. But rarely do I finish big projects that I start. This often leaves me feeling defeated, unfulfilled and stricken with guilt. But with this project, I WILL see it through to the end and the simple act of accomplishment is sure to bring me a GREAT amount of joy!

So, those are my FIVE WISHESand I hope that by focusing on these and measuring each activity by them, I will remain more focused, mindful and present during the entirety of this journey!

I have a renewed excitement and can't wait to share with you all the tasks that I have already accomplished in upcoming posts.

If you were writing your FIVE WISHES for your journey, what would they be?

Friday, January 11, 2013

First of all, I confess that it has been THREE MONTHS since I last blogged!

I confess that I have made A LOT of changes since my last blog.

I confess that I have checked off two more items on my 40 by 40 list but have not written a blog post about them.

I confess that I have a lot of stories to share and I can't wait to get back on track with this blog.

I confess, however, that I am struggling big time with time management. I am juggling more projects at once than I am used to and I am finally doing it on my own schedule and on my own time. While this is VERY exciting, it is also VERY challenging. I am working to figure out a schedule that I can stick to for the time being to help me organize my day and get everything done.

I confess that the reason why I finally knocked "start blogging again" off my to-do list is because my sister posted two blogs in two days. Check them out here, she is awesome!

And finally, I confess that I have embarked on yet another challenge dealing with organization, goal-setting and time management. BIG bonus - it is created by Chalene Johnson (of Turbo Fire, Turbo Jam and Chalean Extreme fame). She makes regular visits to my house via my Turbo Fire DVDS!

You can check it out at http://www.30daypush.com/ - it is free and you can start it any time. You will get an email each day with a short video clip and a homework assignment that will just take a few minutes. More on that in an upcoming blog post!

What are you confessing this week? Head over to High Heeled Love to join the confessing!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Well, it is official. I just finished my application to the Capital Fringe Festival to enter my very own Cabaret act into the running for this year's festival. I have no idea what to expect, but the worst thing that can happen is that they don't accept my show and I try again next year. I do have three years to complete this task and be able to include it on my 40 by 40 blog.

I began to explore this idea after seeing the show "Next to Normal" on Broadway a few years ago. I had a rough idea of what the show was about, but I had no idea what I was really getting into. Needless to say, I felt like I had been hit by a truck after seeing it, but it started me on a journey that allowed me to explore my own bipolar disorder in new and fresh way. Here's a short clip to give you an idea of the show..

**Side note - If you haven't seen this show, do yourself a favor and see it whenever and wherever you can. It is the most honest, raw, authentic and accurate portrayals of mental health issues that I have ever seen. Check it out!

Seeing someone explore these issues so boldly and courageously encouraged me to start sharing my own story more openly. All this and the encouragement of many important people in my life right now finally led me to begin creating my own cabaret act that delves deeply into my own life with bipolar. I am currently taking a cabaret class at TheatreLab in DC and our first class affirmed for me that this is a style of communication that allows me to express myself freely about some important struggles and challenges I have faced in my life.

So, the bottom line is that I have submitted the application and come February we will all find out if they have accepted my act. I might be sitting on pins and needles until then!!

In the meantime - my cabaret class will be putting on a Cabaret Showcase on Sunday, October 21st at the TheatreLab in DC. It is going to be a great show and it will include a 10 minute set by yours truly that will hopefully serve as the seed for my Fringe Festival Cabaret Show. I would love to see you all there - it will be a free night of lovely entertainment! More details to come on this soon, but please...

Friday, August 17, 2012

So, those of you who have already been following me know that I was inspired to blog by my sister, Caroline. You can check out her fabulous blog here! Every week she does what is called her "Friday Confessions." Apparently lots of different bloggers participate and it is all hosted by a fabulous blogger over at Dandelion Wishes. There's a whole process for posting this and it's my first time, so I really hope I get it right. We'll see!

But in the meantime, here's my first installment of my Friday Confessions...

I confess that I finished my 10 day challenge with great success! I lost 3.2 pounds and one whole inch off my waist! AWESOME! You can read my post about my results here. I was so pleased and motivated about it that I have decided to continue with a 90 day challenge.

I confess that I am absolutely TERRIFIED of the 90 day challenge. Can I commit to something like this for 90 whole days? Will I fail? Will I mess up along the way? Will I make a complete fool of myself? None of that matters, because I have committed and that means I AM going to DO IT! I will be doing the Turbo Fire workout along with my continued C25K running. This workout looks CRAZY INTENSE!

I confess that on the day after my challenge ended I had great intentions of sticking to the plan until my package arrived for my new 90 day challenge. However, I slipped up a little bit. On my way to Subway for my healthy lunch sandwich, I instead stumbled into Dunkin Donuts for my favorite turkey, bacon, cheddar sandwich. WOOPS!

I confess that I don't have big plans for this weekend and I am kind of excited about it!

And finally, I confess that I may be developing an addiction to the protein boxes at Starbuck's. They are a good breakfast and super convenient...but pricey. Maybe I need to find an alternative! :)

What are you confessing this week? Head over to Dandelion Wishes to join the confessing!

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About Me

Each new day brings with it a fresh supply of God's mercies and a limitless gift of endless possibilities. This feeling of the unknown can be overwhelming, but I am choosing to see each unknown day as magnificent!